


when the war is over

by the-bi-sokka-club (blametheone)



Series: the club hits 1k [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Campfire talks, Found Family, Gaang (Avatar), Gaang (Avatar) as Family, Gen, idk how to tag this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:01:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25417354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blametheone/pseuds/the-bi-sokka-club
Summary: Sozin’s Comet was only a few days away, now, the thought of the battle to come foreboding, like a storm cloud in the distance. But, for just tonight, they weren’t training, or planning. They were sitting around a fire, Zuko encouraging Aang to gently control the flame, and just enjoying each other’s presence.
Series: the club hits 1k [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1840897
Comments: 9
Kudos: 248





	when the war is over

**Author's Note:**

> requested by anonymous on tumblr

The night air of the Fire Nation was colder than expected, given the blistering summer heat they had been subjected to throughout the day, but it was sincerely welcomed by the six teenagers huddled around the fire, if only for the fitting ambiance and an excuse to huddle together.

Sozin’s Comet was only a few days away, now, the thought of the battle to come foreboding, like a storm cloud in the distance. But, for just tonight, they weren’t training, or planning. They were sitting around a fire, Zuko encouraging Aang to gently control the flame, and just enjoying each other’s presence.

They surrounded one another, with tired smiles and half-lidded eyes, an unspoken agreement to pretend that the outside world didn’t exist.

Katara hummed into the bitter wind, hand squeezing Aang’s.

“When this is all over,” she murmured, “What’s the first thing you’re going to do?”

It wasn’t directed at anyone in particular, just a question for the group. Maybe a hope for the future, a life after the battle, maybe just a dumb question around a campfire to fill the silence.

“I want to go penguin sledding again,” Aang breathes gently, leaning against Katara’s shoulder.

Sokka chuckled from across the circle, covering his mouthful of jerky now that all eyes had been cast his way.

“Well that ruins my plans to finally get away from Aang,” he joked, and Aang sputtered a laugh while he twisted the air around Sokka’s handful of jerky, sending the small clump flying into the fire.

Sokka cried out in disdain for his food, but the smile on his face didn’t drop, and the group all found humour in his sudden lack of jerky.

“I…” Zuko started, and immediately clamped up his mouth, probably hoping no one heard him – but that was not the case.

Toph poked him while the rest of the gang jeered, and even though all of them were crowing and making a fuss it wasn’t hard to notice the soft grins underneath their words.

“I want takoyaki,” he admitted, a stupid little grin escaping his sensibilities and pulling at his lips. “Boxes and boxes of it, if I can… I haven’t had Fire Nation street food in years…”

Suki made a little face and sat up suddenly, hands on the ground as she leant forward with excitement.

“Are those the little balls, with the…?” she trailed off and made a hand motion and for some unknown reason Zuko seemed to know exactly what she was talking about.

The rest of the group watched in unsure awe as Zuko and Suki seemed to manage to bond over a street food, Suki confirming to the group that she, also, would divulge in a whole box worth of fried food when she finally got home. As they kept talking it became apparent that Fire Nation had stolen takoyaki from the eastern peninsula of the Earth Kingdom, and over the seventy years since, the recipe had altered slightly in the Fire Nation, but remained the same enough for them to both immediately divulge into a conversation about Earth Kingdom street food.

Sokka, eventually, was the one to break it up, crying out that since Aang tossed his jerky in the fire they were only allowed to talk about food if they left now and brought some back to the group.

Suki pushed at Sokka’s head and produced a small parcel of jerky from her pocket, rolling her eyes when his face lit up.

“What do you want to do, Katara?” Aang asked, Sokka now placated with his food.

The waterbender hummed for a moment, unsure.

“I think… I think I want to go canoeing back at the South Pole,” she smiled. “Try fishing with my waterbending again.”

Sokka looked at his sister, and tilted his head.

“So, this has all been one big break in our fishing trip?” he joked, and Katara rolled her eyes at him but still grinned widely and nodded with a bit of a shrug.

“I think I want to see my parents,” Toph mumbled into the silence that settled. “When it’s over…”

The group turned to look at her, a little shocked and maybe even a little sad. It was a bittersweet situation, after all.

Katara put her hand over Toph’s and squeezed gently.

Suki glanced around.

“On the island, in the winter, it always gets really, really cold,” she started. “The arctic air comes up from the South Pole and freezes everything.”

She settled, cross-legged, and looked distantly into the fire.

“My mother wasn’t born on Kyoshi Island, but I was. She always fretted about the cold, all the time but particularly in the winter. ‘Suki, wear your jacket!’, ‘Suki, you’re going to catch your death!’, and my personal favourite, ‘if the cold doesn’t take your toes I’ll cut them off myself, young lady!’.”

Katara smiled gently, casting a look to Sokka, who was looking back at her. Gran-Gran used to tell them the same thing, growing up, and would fret about their cheeks going red or fingers getting exposed to the cold air.

“One winter, my mother went back to the mainland to travel, and while she was away I got so sick from the cold that I was completely bedridden for a week,” she giggled. “Now whenever autumn comes she wont let me leave our house without an extra coat, and every single time she brings up the winter I got sick.”

Toph makes a small giggling sound.

“One time, my mother spent an entire dinner complaining that my assistant wasn’t doing a good enough job because I kept spilling food on my face. Can’t imagine how it _possibly_ could of happened, but at the end of the meal her bowl suddenly flung up and spilt all over her dress!” Toph winked.

“It’s a family-mystery to this day!”

The rest of the gang couldn’t help but laugh, and Suki pulled Toph closer to her and hugged her tightly.

Sokka cast a look towards Katara and chuckled lowly, “Remember when Dad made five-flavour soup for the first time and Gran-Gran kicked him out?”

A fit of laughter leapt out of Katara’s mouth, and she clamped a hand over her mouth, nodding.

“And when he snuck back in, she made him cook it every night for a week until he got it right?”

Sokka gasped, a realisation washing over him. “Dad never told you!”

“Told me what?” her face dropped a bit, worry seeping in.

“He didn’t get the soup right,” Sokka tried not to let his laughter get in the way of his voice. “Bato cooked some and let Dad swap it before Gran-Gran tried it!”

Maybe it was because of the atmosphere, or the fact that the kids all knew Hakoda. Maybe it was because Suki, Toph, Aang and Zuko all had an image of Hakoda, of a proud, strong chief who took care of all of them, and maybe it was because Sokka and Katara’s memories of a clumsy mid-twenties dork was so altered to their image of him.

But Toph was bent over, and Suki was giggling into her hand, and Katara was pointing at Sokka making intangible sounds while he laid down for a minute to catch his breath.

And when Zuko opened his mouth-

“Zzsh!” Sokka clambered across the circle to push his hands over Zuko’s mouth. “Listen, man, I love you, but is this story about your dad or your uncle?”

Zuko rolled his eyes a little, but mumbled, “Uncle,” around Sokka’s fingers without a fight.

Sokka removed himself from Zuko’s proximity with a wave and a flourish.

“You may proceed.”

The others were already giggling in the background, unable to contain themselves, and the energy in the circle prevented Zuko from being able to keep a straight face, either.

Zuko managed to spit out that Iroh had, in the middle of a very serious discussion, tripped over his own robes and spilt tea all over one of the generals they were conversing with.

And Aang teared up a bit when he started talking about Gyatso, and without a beat of hesitation they all immediately moved in for a group hug, comforting him. The laughter stopped, mostly, but the smiles didn’t, and though no one had any particularly tangible words of comfort, Aang was still surrounded by people who loved him, and that was enough.

Aang stayed in Katara’s lap and Sokka, completely unable to help himself, joked that he wanted to sit in someone’s lap. Before he could open his mouth again, Toph kicked the earth underneath him upwards and the force sent Sokka flying into Zuko’s lap.

And Zuko groaned at the sudden weight thrown at him but didn’t make Sokka leave, eventually settles his arms around Sokka’s waist for comfort anyway.

Toph toed Sokka’s knee.

“You didn’t answer before,” she mumbled. “What you want to do when this is all over.”

Sokka leant back against Zuko for a moment and considered the thought. Of all the places they had been to, all the things they had done, what did he want to do most?

“You know, I wish Wan Shi Tong’s library was still here, I think I’d want to spend a whole day there, sometimes,” Sokka gestured with his hands, looking wistfully. He recognised that he probably should have answered something from home, but it wouldn’t be as truthful.

“You could always go to the university at Ba Sing Se?” Aang suggested, and Sokka contemplated it.

“Well,” Zuko’s voice appeared to startle Sokka a little, and he craned his neck to pay attention to the firebender. “There’s a whole archive underneath the palace, you’re welcome to spend the day there whenever you want.”

Sokka clearly appeared excited at the prospect and pointed gleefully at Zuko.

“I’m doing that,” he announced, and Zuko chuckled gently, the rest of the group jeering about Sokka being a big nerd, which he proudly agreed to.


End file.
